Firestar’s Quest

“I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan and mentor to SkyClan, call upon their warrior ancestors to look down upon these cats,” he began. “They have dedicated themselves to your warrior code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn.” Padding up to Rainfur, he went on. “Rainfur, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

Rainfur held his head high; there was no doubt in his voice as he meowed, “I do.”

“Then by the powers of StarClan I confirm your warrior name. Rainfur, StarClan trusts you will serve your new Clan with honor and courage.”

He rested his muzzle on Rainfur’s head, and the gray warrior licked his shoulder.

“Petal,” Firestar went on, turning to the pale gray she-cat, “do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

“I do.” Petal sounded just as certain as her mate.

“Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Petal, from this moment you will be known as Petalnose. StarClan honors your endurance and your strength, and SkyClan welcomes you.”

As he completed the ceremony, the cats of SkyClan called out the names of the new warriors, yowling them like a challenge to the darkening sky. Firestar glowed with pride for all the SkyClan cats; thanks to them, the Clan had gained two strong warriors and two healthy kits. He could see a great future in the Clan for Petalnose and Rainfur.

The yowling died away as the sun sank behind the cliffs and night covered the gorge. The waxing moon gave a fitful light as it appeared from behind the clouds that scudded across the sky. There was a stiff breeze with a hint of frost.

Firestar sent his warriors up to the top of the cliff while he paid a final visit to the nursery. Echosong and Petalnose had returned there with the five kits, who crouched in their nests among the moss and bracken, gazing at Firestar with a mixture of fear and excitement.

“You’ll be as safe here as anywhere,” Firestar told them.

“The entrance is narrow.”

Petalnose nodded. “We’ll be fine. Don’t worry about us, Firestar. And we’ll look after the kits, or die trying.”

“If the worst happens,” Firestar promised, “every warrior who survives will come back here and help you defend them.”

“The worst won’t happen.” Echosong’s voice was clear and certain as she padded up to Firestar. “Go now—I’ll see you when you come back.”

Firestar thought of the brutal battle that lay ahead.

Though he still had six lives, they could all be torn from him at once if his wounds were severe enough. He remembered how Tigerstar had died, ripped open by Scourge, and he shivered.

Though he said nothing, he knew that Echosong had guessed where his thoughts were leading. “I will see you again,” she mewed, and her words had the conviction of a prophecy.

Chapter 32

Firestar hauled himself over the edge of the cliff and into the undergrowth. For a heartbeat, until his eyes grew used to the thick darkness under the bushes, he couldn’t see any cat, though SkyClan scent was all around him.

Cherrypaw hissed into his ear. “This way.”

Following her, he came to the edge of the undergrowth and found the SkyClan warriors crouching under the outer-most branches of the thicket, gazing across the scrubland toward the Twoleg barn. He remembered his fears back in the forest, before the battle with BloodClan. He had struggled then with the thought of leading his Clan into a battle from which some of them might not return. His deputy, Whitestorm, had told him that he didn’t envy him his position. Bluestar had assured him in a dream that he had the strength he needed. In the end he had understood that making such decisions was part of the burden of being a leader.

Now he looked at the SkyClan warriors, at the eagerness in their eyes as they gazed toward their enemies’ nest, and he shrank from the order that he had to give. This battle had been started—and lost—long ago. Firestar was not their 4 5 2

leader. What right had he to ask them to fight now? There were so few of them, and they had been given so little time to learn the skills of a warrior.

He was aware of Leafdapple rising to her paws and padding along the line of bushes until she stood in front of him. “You fear for us,” she meowed.

Firestar nodded, words stuck in his throat like a tough piece of fresh-kill.

“We fear for ourselves,” Leafdapple went on quietly. “But this is our battle, not yours. We owe it to the SkyClan cats who walked here before to try once more to defeat these rats.

You do not have to come. Should ThunderClan risk losing their leader for another Clan’s sake?”

Firestar gazed at her with a mixture of admiration and disbelief. Where had her courage come from, and her commitment to the warrior code? But what impressed him most was that she realized his first loyalty lay not with this Clan, but with the Clanmates he had left behind in the forest.